Holiday Memories:Ga-zillion Pics

As promised, here are some of my favorite holiday photos: Much love to my peeps:

Here is a picture of me and my bestest friend, Heather...at her annual Ornament Exchange Party. Heath, I don't know what I would do without you! The day it became OURS 12/11/2008! Our dreamhouse!!!

Lauren's last day at daycare...Matt's cousin Nichole with happy Lauren and none-too-happy Jamie:

Lauren's closest gal pals at Miss Cheryl's:

All of the kids at Cheryl's...we sure miss them!

Christmas Eve at my mom's...pretty Lauren:

Jamie LOVES any kind of vehicle..much thanks to my cousin Melanie:

Jamie, drinking Lauren's drink...does he look guilty?

The tall man and the littley-boy...Ashley's boyfriend Victor and Jamie:

Look at my handsome boy! In his Christmas Eve suit:

Jamie...loving his new toys and his new "Cars" jammies:

Santa came! Christmas Eve 2008, our first Christmas at the new house:

The requests from Santa:

Lauren on Christmas morning (check out the crappy weather out the windows..ugh!) Talk about a white Christmas!

Unwrapping on Christmas Day:

Our stash:

Jamie's tool-set from Papa Leo, at their house, later on Christmas Day:

Matt's step-brother Stephen and his boyfriend Collin:

Matt's sister Kristen and her husband David, Christmas Day:

My best little family I know....Merry Christmas 2008!

Matt's dad Leo and his wife Tina:

The Lovato grandchildren; Lauren, Isabella, and James:

Matt's brother Greg, his wife Alex, and Bella:

Wrestling with Grandpa on Christmas Day, a new tradition?

Me and the best sisters ever...Sarah and Ashley:

At our annual New Years Eve Party...our first party at the new house!!! Kristen, being silly:

Matt's cousin Sherrell:

Kristen and Greg playing "Singstar":

Watching the new year count-down...Matt, Greg, and Alex:

New Years Day...my parents and Sarah came for a visit:

Me and my cute hubby...loving our new house, and each other! Happy 2009!

Finally feeling like normal!

What a whirl-wind the month of December has been! Between Christmas shopping, wrapping, parties and trying to pack, move, unpack, and decorate....we haven't had two seconds to sit down....BUT life is slowly getting back to normal. We FINALLY got our phone, the internet, and cable so we are starting to feel connected to the world again. I have worked a few days of my new shift, it isn't as bad or as hard as I thought it would be. We will see next Saturday after I work Monday-Friday of it...for those of you who don't know...the new shift is 545AM-845AM...then I run back home, then Matt works 9-430, and I go back from 430PM-930PM. My day is really long, but I have felt pretty productive. It is GREAT to spend so much time with the kids. And for those of you who are asking how the new house is. I can say now that I absolutely love it, it still feels a little unreal..like a dream, or like I am staying at a hotel...but everything is coming together and it is GRREEAAAATTTT!!! Friday, my sister Sarah came over and we actually set up my craft room, and we scrapbooked ALL night. I kept saying to her..."I can't believe that I have an entire room for this! What a dream come true"!!! Well, as we begin to settle into the routine, I will get better about posting, and posting with pictures. I will also try to post some of my favorite Christmas photos soon. I must apologize to my blogging friends, I did miss the last two weeks of your posts, but I will be back to my normal following shortly.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered...IT'S OURS!!

YES!! We finally closed on our house on December 11th, we got the keys on December 12th, and we got the hugest snowstorm ever on December 13th...preventing us from moving this weekend! Matt decided that he had waited long enough for our Christmas tree, so he put up JUST our tree in our empty house on Saturday. Sunday the 14th, the weather was a little better, so we moved one couch, our kitchen table, and all of our kitchen gear. Forgive me, I have no pictures....we have been so busy. Moving is SOOO much work. I wonder if we will ever actually get all the way moved in.....seems like a huge mountain to climb. I am off on PTO for three days, so I hope to make a dent....

WARNING: Super-Mega-Jumbo POST

It has been a while since I have written, and once again, so much has happened. So, I am combining them into one Super-Mega-Jumbo Post! I will start at the beginning and attempt to do this in order. Okay! So...here is a picture of our old house....it isn't officially FOR SALE...but soon!
The new house is practically complete. Our walk through is scheduled for December 2, and hopefully we will be closing and moving shortly after that. Here are some of the finishing touches. This is the kids' bathroom:

We got the lights for the outside of the house, Matt picked them out and I think they are really interesting and unique:

Here is a shot of the door (it still has some tape on it), but you can get the idea:

These are some shots of my birthday party with the family. I accidentally planned it on the same day and time as the big BYU versus UTAH game. Here is my dad and Ty...supporting the UTES!

My mom fed Jamie some cake, doesn't he look like a little birdie?

Here is Matt's dad, Leo and his wife, Tina:

Me and my favorite little girl, Lauren:

Happy Birthday to me...the candles represent 3 and 1 = 31:

Matt and his dad, in our kitchen:

Matt's sister, Kristen and her husband Dave:

Here is my little family:

Could Jamie like football this early?

My sister, Sarah and her boyfriend, Ty:

My sister, Ashley and her boyfriend, Victor:

Back to the new house...yup, the fireplace works:

They finally put the railing on the house:

And on the inside of the house:

We have a kitchen sink:

And we have the chandelier:

This is the Kid's Bathroom, we now have a mirror:

We now have a shower door and all tiling is now complete:

The finished kitchen:

We now also have carpet:

Okay, back way up...this picture was taken in October, this was a picture we took as a suprise for Matt's birthday (that is why I didn't post it earlier):

Which leads to our most recent family photos, we take them every year on my birthday. They will be in our Christmas cards this year. Jamie was NOT having a good time, it took a lot of patience from the Kiddie Kandids ladies. I didn't LOVE ALL of the photos, it seems like one of us is weird in each photo...I really like this one, except Lauren's CRAZY FACE:

Another take, Matt is laughing a little too hard trying to get Jamie to smile:

This is the shot that I got the most pictures from:

We let Jamie take a rest and got some shots of our precious Lauren:

Her pretty new dress:

I love my two little monkeys, they are the best present ever:

We relaxed the night of my birthday as a family and watched the Jazz game and had pizza. This picture was taken by Lauren...not bad, eh?

Jamie looked so handsome for his pictures, SO grown up in his suit!

Matt and me on the morning of my birthday, this was my first picture with the new memory card he gave me as a present:

Thanksgiving was the day after my birthday, here is my clan on Turkey day, at my mom's house:

My Mom and Dad after the big meal:

Sarah and Ty, Chillaxin':

At Leo's house, with his two sons, Matt and Greg:

Matt's brother, Greg and his wife Alex and his daughter, Isabella:

Our family...Jamie is re-inacting his picture taking behavior that he demonstrated the day before, caught on film this time:

All Leo and T wanted was a picture with the grandkids, Jamie was having NO part of it. It is so strange to have two totally different children...Lauren LOVES to have her picture taken, what a cheeser:

Our hosts, Leo and Tina:

The gang:

Tina's spread:

Such a sweet little boy when he wants to be:

This Thanksgiving I have so much to be thankful for. I would double this post if I listed them all. So, I will end here reflecting on all of my blessings and looking forward to the wonderful things to come!